Rutgers places coach on leave after external report alleges she is oblivious and her team ‘toxic.’

The results of the independent investigation into the Rutgers gymnastics program (gift link) are back, and they are bad. 

The head coach of Rutgers gymnastics, Umme Salim-Beasley, was placed on leave after Friday’s report.

Rutgers began the investigation last summer after the university athletic director abruptly quit and gymnasts alleged both that he had a romantic relationship with their coach, and that Salim-Beasley ran a program rife with abuse and retaliation. I’ve written for The IX about the events leading up to the ordering of the independent investigation here and here. 

The investigation took four months, is 50 pages long, contains interviews with 62 witnesses, and cost the university $705,000. It also said that former athletic director Peter Hobbs had interfered with the university’s own ethics investigation into Salim-Beasley’s team, leading to the decision to appoint an external firm to look into the situation. 

The report does not call for disciplinary action against Salim-Beasley, though the university took it. It does note that she “lost control” of her team and appeared not to understand how her words affected them emotionally. Hobbs’ influence over both her and the team appeared to be outsize, with the report indicating that gymnasts were not comfortable approaching Hobbs with issues related to Salim-Beasley or the team, and that Hobbs did not keep the identities of gymnasts or their parents who did approach him with concerns confidential. 

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NJ.com called for Salim-Beasley to be fired in an editorial. It calls her “at worst, a tyrant” who “at best, was a distracted, tone-deaf leader.” The editorial calls her program “toxic,” and criticizes the university for not looking into its own role in hiring leaders like Salim-Beasley and Hobbs.

The report calls for more attention to the complaints process of the gymnasts on Rutgers’ team, and to better oversight and accounting of the team’s practices.

I hope for the sake of the gymnasts who have endured so much, that they are at least able to be heard beyond the impact of this report. They deserve that and more. 

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Other gym news

Balance Beam Situation has our NCAA schedule and links for the weekend and the all-important GIFs from last week. 

College Gym News has the all-important leotard rankings from last week, and so much more — liveblogs of every meet, importantly. 

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